What do you call someone who knows what the ASX is going to do next week or next month?
A scoundrel.
It's no joke. I don't mind saying it. You should never trust anyone who claims to know the immediate future.
And yet…
I'll happily put on my turban and gold earring (er, apologies for that mental image) and bring out the old crystal ball to tell you what the ASX is going to do over the coming years.
It's going to go up. It's that simple. Ten years from now, the companies that make up the ASX 200 will be worth more… likely a lot more.
Woolworths (ASX: WOW) will be selling more Tim Tams, more baked beans, more cartons of milk.
Teenagers will be texting more, or whatever the equivalent of texting then is, and there will be approximately 13,245,900,356,877,422 videos (and that's just the silly cat ones) on YouTube. So Telstra (ASX: TLS) will be selling more data.
In other words, the long-term slope of the market is tilted in your favour!
That's why now is a great time to be investing – whether you're just starting out or whether you've been buying shares for two decades or more.
I'll say it again: Now is a great time. Now, as in today. Buy the best ASX shares and position yourself for price appreciation and years of often fully franked dividends.
There's little doubt these businesses I've mentioned will continue to do themselves – and Australia – proud.
The same cannot be said of this fellow…
This Australian isn't exactly doing us proud…
A certain Australian recently made headlines around the world… And the news coverage, while pretty entertaining, isn't likely to do much for our national image.
It's a feral pig, dubbed 'Swino' by the media. Last month, this porker stole 18 beers from campers at Port Hedland, WA, guzzled the lot, and went on a rampage…
According to The Independent, Swino "went on to ransack rubbish bin bags to find some late-night snacks before starting a fight with an innocent eyewitness cow."
And then, to top it off, "the pig decided to swim out into the middle of a river before collapsing drunk under a tree and falling asleep."
I'll say this for him: He knew how to have a good time. (And at least he wasn't risking a wreck of the world's biggest economy!)
But we shouldn't be laughing just now, right? After all….
Isn't the world just about to end?
Here at Fool HQ, the emails and questions keep pouring in…
What will happen if the US Congress can't reach a deal? What will happen to shareholders in Australia if the US government defaults?
I've received dozens of messages from alarmed investors in recent days and weeks. And I wouldn't say these investors are wrong to be taking matters seriously.
For instance…
"Fidelity Investments, one of the world's largest buyers of US government debt, has liquidated its Treasury securities maturing between now and early November in case the government defaults next week," The Australian Financial Review reported today.
It's a 'just in case' move that suggest some of the biggest money managers in the world take the prospect of a US default quite seriously.
We don't buy and sell treasuries here at The Motley Fool, or, indeed, make many short-term moves of any kind. Our thinking is long term and geared to the individual investor.
Just now, it's a fairly luxurious position… We don't have to do anything differently. And neither do you!
So keep calm and carry on, folks. Keep buying shares. Keep holding the best ones for the long term.
The politicians will go on behaving badly until both sides lose interest (and both declare 'victory'). Best put it out of your mind.
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Motley Fool contributor Bruce Jackson has an interest in Woolwoths and Telstra.
